Shropshire Star

Making Shropshire a place where businesses and communities flourish together

Ruth Ross, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, shares her views on the year ahead for businesses in the region.

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With all the uncertainties around the world right now, it’s a tougher task than ever to predict what this year has in store. 

But there’s one thing I think we can pretty much guarantee to see in 2025, and that’s change.

Our role at Shropshire Chamber of Commerce is to help businesses of all sizes to navigate challenges, and help them to seize opportunities in the months ahead.

The results of our latest quarterly economic survey, published shortly before Christmas, reveal just how tough things are for many businesses right now.

It predicted that jobs will be lost as employers wrestle with the financial implications of the Government’s ‘business bashing’ Budget. The proportion of businesses now seeing taxation as a ‘fear factor’ has jumped by a worrying 40 per cent.

One hospitality business told us: “We have been in business for nearly 20 years, and the current economic climate is the worst we have experienced. We are in survival mode.”

So how can Shropshire Chamber of Commerce help?

 We know that businesses thrive when they feel supported, valued, and empowered, and our commitment is to ‘love our members more’ by delivering even greater value, fostering meaningful engagement, and promoting their success across Shropshire and beyond.

The next 12 months will see us strengthening our core services, investing in the right people and processes, and working tirelessly to stabilise and grow our membership base. 

We will focus on being a partner they can rely on – not just to navigate those challenges I mentioned, but to help businesses become happier, healthier, wealthier and wiser. 

Stallion AI Services Ltd celebrate their award win

By amplifying their voices and demonstrating the tangible impact of their contributions, I want us to inspire confidence and build a community where businesses of all sizes feel they belong.

Shropshire Chamber has achieved a lot in the past year. We recorded a hugely impressive 343,000-plus member engagements in 2024, with more than 1,600 attendees at our breakfast clubs – where numbers were 21 per cent up on the previous year. 

We also held nearly 100 training courses, supporting well over 700 delegates.

Alongside our busy in-person training and events programme, we have also teamed up with a leading online training provider to give our members the chance to study for professional qualifications from the comfort of their own offices or homes.

We’re partnering with e-Careers to offer upskilling and career development opportunities in a ‘virtual classroom’ – meaning you can take the studies at your own pace, and at a time which suits you best.

There are 11 different categories on offer: Accounting, Bookkeeping, Business Analysis, Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Digital Marketing, Health and Safety, Human Resources, IT and Networking, Mortgage Advice, and Project Management.

Finally, I look forward to seeing many of you on January 23 for the official launch of the 2025 Shropshire Chamber Business Awards. It’s always a highlight of the calendar when we celebrate the amazing businesses we’re fortunate to have in our county – but it will be even more special this year as we celebrate the event’s 25th anniversary.

Have we got some surprises in store? You bet we have. Am I going to tell you what they are? Not a chance – you’ll have to come to the launch event at Hatfields in Shrewsbury and find out. All the details are on the Chamber’s website.

This is an important time for Shropshire Chamber, and together we will lay the foundation for a future where our Chamber is not just bigger, but bolder – recognised for leading positive change and delivering real results. 

Let’s move forward united, with a shared purpose to make Shropshire a place where businesses and communities flourish together.

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